BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — From the usually crowded precincts, the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in the three villages in Boracay turned out to be less busy than usual on Monday.
In Barangay Balabag alone with 7,371 registered voters, at least 40 percent of voters’ turnout has decreased, said Sajid Pelayo, the assigned Department of Education’s Supervising Official (DESO) in Balabag Elementary School.
Pelayo said even before the 3 p.m. cut off time, there were already fewer voters.
He said some of the registered voters in the barangay were displaced and have returned to their respective provinces due to the temporary closure of the island.
“Most of the workers who are also registered voters (here) went home due to the island’s closure,” said Pelayo.
Balabag has the second highest number of registered voters in Boracay and Malay town next to Manocmanoc with 11, 170 registered voters, based on the data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of Malay.
Yapak meanwhile has 3,370 registered voters.
In Manocmanoc, lesser number of voters was also observed.
The bulk of voters trooped to the Manocmanoc Elementary School in the morning but it has decreased around noontime.
Despite the usual complaints of missing names on the list of registered voters, the election day remained peaceful, said Pelayo.
Police Insp. Telmigi Majuk, compact commander for Barangay Balabag, also said the election went smoothly.
He said the Philippine National Police continues to strictly implement the liquor ban which will be until 12 midnight on Tuesday as well as the gun ban.
Majuk said the police forces will remain on alert status until the end of the election period.
The police officer from Zamboanga City though was not able to cast his vote to perform his duty. He said they have to sacrifice to ensure the safety of most people.
Meanwhile, demolition and road widening works in Boracay were suspended to give way for workers to cast their votes. (PNA)
